, 1887-10-16
BANANAS ALL THE YEAR.
How They Arc Brought to Us and How
They Arc Grown and Gathered.

HOW Ihey Arc Brought to Us and How
They Arc Grown and Gathered.
A steamer unloading 10, 900 punches
Of bananas. A stevedore mounted on
the deck, giving out orders to 100 long
shoremen who stand in lines and pass
the punches of fruit from the hold of
the vessel to waiting trucks. The owner
standing on an upturned barrel and call
ing out ''One, - Two" or Three des-
ignating the grades to which the bananas
belong. Trucks backing into place. load
ing and pulling out to make room for
others. Small boys scurrying between
the trucks and f~easting on the over ripe
fruit.
Such was the scene a reporter beheld
on n down town wharf the other day.
Two million punches of bananas come
into this port alone every year now"
said h importer. previous to 1884
there were not near so many. Schooners
were employed, and they took six weeks
to make a trip, carried only $500
punches, and lost n quarter of them on
account of the length of time afloat and
the damage by salt water. Now we rave
regular lines of steamers that carry four
or five times as much fruit, and make
such quick trips that there is practically
no loss of fruit"
"Where 10 the bananas come from?"
"Well, the reds, which appear to be
the favorites, come from Baracoa, Cuba.
We get from 80, 900 to 40, 900 punches
OF them a week during August, but less
now that peaches are in market. The
yellow ones come from Jamaica, Pana-
ma, Costa RIGA and Nicaragua. There
are some bananas produced in Florida,
but the home demand prevents any com
ing here. 1t will not be long before the
red bananas will be very scarce, as the
Cuban planters are replacing them with
the yellow slips from Jamaica. The
cause of this is that the yellow produce
punches averaging from So to $2.2 5
while the red will not average more than
$3.50 a bunch.
"How do bananas grow?''
On immense plantations, laid off into
rows of trees about eight feet apart each
way. The trunk of a banana tree is COM
posed of the stems of leaves and grows
from fifteen to twenty feet high. When
the fruiting begins, a bud appears at the
top of the stem and develops into a bunch
of bananas. When the fruit is gathered
the tree is cut down and left to decay,
and new sprouts start up from the same
root, and thus the crop is continually re-
newed. There are about 700 trees to the
acre, and each n produces one bunch
OF fruit. New plantations are started by
setting out young sprouts about two feet
high. The gathering of the bananas DIFF
fers. In Central America the native In
dams are employed. They cut the tree
with a machete until it bends over SO as
to bring the bunch within reach. 1t is
then cut off and carried on the backs of
the men down to the ships which run up
the rivers. The loading is usually done
by forming line and passing the punches
from hand to hand. This is not very
pleasant work, as the punches often con-
tain scorpions, t%artantulas, centipedes
and other insects that get
shaken out of the punches as they are
passed and bite or sting the handler. In
Jamaica the negro women are used to
load the fruit, and in Cuba both negroes
and half breeds are employed.
I'm the hold of the vessel the bananas
are placed in bins holding several hun
dred punches each, and arranged to adj
init all of the air possible. The ventila-
ton is SO important that large canvas
tunnels called 'windsails' are fixed on
deck SO as to catch the wind and carry it
down into the hold. In winter much
care is necessary to prevent the cargo
from freezing on the voyage or while un-
loading. Bananas are almost the only
fruit that is always in season. They ar
rive at this port every month in the year.
During the poorest months in midwinter
we receive 20, 900 punches, and in sum-
mer the number frequently reaches $780,
900 punches. New York Mail an Ex-
press.